I told you I'd do anything
by purpleraichu
Summary: Just how far will a Pokémon go to protect their trainer? Set in the anime timeline just after Ecruteak City, mainly Chikoshipping but hints towards others. Please R&R, all comments and future suggestions more than welcome.
1. Change of Heart

So, my first fiction on here, hope you like it, reviews of any kind are always welcomed. Usual disclaimer stuff about me not owning Pokémon, apart from Oliver who is an original character, so I guess I own him.

One – Change of Heart

"Ash, slow down! Why are you always in such a hurry?" Misty was doing her best to keep up with the young trainer, but clearly struggling. Ever since Ash had won the Fog Badge at the Ecruteak City Gym, his excitement had been uncontrollable. Even now as they all tore down Route 38 he showed no signs of calming down, intent on reaching Olivine City by nightfall.

"We can get there soon if we keep running" Ash panted breathlessly from up ahead.

"No we can't, it's still hours away!" Misty retorted, gaining on him a little as they reached the end of a forest section.

"Yes we can, Brock said so!" This stopped Misty in her tracks, as she turned to glare at her travelling companion. Brock shrugged sheepishly but said nothing, clearly embarrassed at having encouraging Ash, but more importantly, annoying Misty like that. The girl sighed however, and reluctantly began to run again, following Ash into a large clearing. By the time Brock eventually caught up with them, both Ash and Misty had stopped in their tracks, staring in awe at the sight in front of them.

Oliver called his Raichu to attack, eager to finish this battle off quickly. The electric mouse fired off a blistering Thunderbolt to stun the oncoming Miltank in its tracks, and an immediate Slam was enough to knock their opponent out and seal the victory for Oliver. After smiling confidently and shaking the hand of his fellow trainer, Oliver's thoughts were interrupted by a call from his unannounced spectators.

"Wow that was amazing!" Ash called as he ran over, "I've just got to battle you and your Raichu, it looks brilliant"

"Sorry, that battle was pretty hard on Raichu, but if you really want to battle me now, I can use a different Pokémon if you like?" Oliver offered reluctantly, not too keen to have another battle so soon, but figured that this new trainer wasn't about to take no for an answer.

"Sure, sounds great. I'm Ash from Pallet Town".

"And I'm Oliver, I come from Blackthorn City" the two shook hands and looked into each other's eyes, that familiar glint of a trainer ever present.

"I'll referee this battle if you like" Brock suggested, to which the two boys agreed, and they threw out their respective Pokémon.

"Alright, Chikorita, I choose you!" Ash cried as the Grass type leapt into action.

"Ok then Umbreon, it's your turn!" Oliver threw the pokéball into the air, and from it came the Moonlight Pokémon.

Umbreon got the first attack in, Mean Look instantly locking Chikorita into the fight, not that this seemed to bother her as she used Razor Leaf to great effect.

"Umbreon, Quick Attack!" Oliver ordered and his Pokémon duly obeyed, knocking Chikorita clean into the air, but Ash commanded her to counter with another Razor Leaf. This time, however, Chikorita missed, allowing Umbreon to come in with one Quick Attack after another, sapping the energy out of its opponent with each attack. Chikorita was finally able to get a hold in the battle with a well-timed Tackle, but was always struggling against the stronger Umbreon.

"Come on, Chikorita, don't give up: Razor Leaf, one more time!" Ash's frustration was visible in his voice, as Misty noted as she watched on the side-lines. She always worried about him during matches, he got so absorbed in the battle that she wondered if it was even healthy… she shook her head defiantly; she didn't need to worry about Ash's health, it wasn't as though she liked him… was it?

As the battle continued, Oliver kept on calmly giving commands to Umbreon, the barrage of Quick Attacks, Double Teams and Tackles really starting to wear Chikorita down, who was struggling to keep up with her much stronger opponent. Umbreon was beginning to tire as well, its attacks missing ever so occasionally, but it still had the upper hand on the fight. But one attack was about to change the world of every single member of that group. Umbreon came in for a Quick Attack, which looked as though it might end the fight. But just as Umbreon began its charge, a huge plume of smoke enveloped the group and a familiar motto rang out…

When the smoke finally cleared, Team Rocket stood triumphantly in the centre of the battlefield, with Pikachu trapped in a small net.

"We'll make this quick, we don't have time for games today" Jessie stated confidently, met with approving nods from her colleagues.

"You see, we have this now" Meowth proudly held a large blue weapon aloft, "This is what I like to call the Twerp-Buster 200, and if you even try and take back this Pikachu, you'll get a taster of just what she can do!" Typically though, Ash did charge and try and rescue his beloved Pokémon, and Meowth let out an evil cackle, firing the blaster towards the trainer in an attempt to scare him off.

But then, suddenly, as Ash stood there frozen on the spot, Chikorita came back in and jumped between the blast and her trainer, protecting Ash from the attack and absorbing the full force of the shot. As the dust settled and Ash cautiously opened his eyes, everybody watched as Chikorita became engulfed in a strange green light. They all stepped back in a mixture of horror, shock and confusion, as none of them, not even Brock, had any idea what was going on.

"Is…Is Chikorita evolving?" Misty asked nervously, not quite sure whether to look away or not.

"I, I don't think so, I'm not sure, normally a Pokémon would emit a white light if it was evolving, but this... this is nothing like anything I've ever seen before" Brock commented, wracking his brain for anything relevant to what he was witnessing. Ash stood there merely dumbstruck, as did Oliver, who quickly returned Umbreon to its pokéball and called Pikachu to him, who had escaped in the confusion.

The green light continued, pulsing from light to dark, as the group continued to watch what was happening to Chikorita. Eventually the shape began to change, as though an evolution was occurring after all, but the shape began to morph into something totally different. The light began to fade, the result became clearer, and everyone stared in sheer disbelief as they discovered what had really happened to Chikorita…


	2. Change of Plan

Next chapter is here, hopefully people liked the first one, writing this purely as an experiment but any reviews or comments would be welcomed =) Unfortunately I don't own Pokémon, but Chikorita is turning into a character I have developed, so in theory I own her.

Two – Change of Plan

The light faded, and Chikorita lay in a heap on the ground, except for the huge different. She now looked…human. Ash ran over to her, not quite believing what he was seeing. But no, it was true. Somehow, in a way he could not explain, Chikorita had turned into a human. She wasn't particularly tall, no more than he was, but her long hair was a deep emerald colour, as were her eyes. Ash gave her his coat as she gingerly sat up, trying to desperately to get her bearings.

"What…what happened?" she asked nervously, taking in the group of people that had now ventured forward to see her.

"You jumped in front of a Team Rocket blast and took the impact" Ash explained quietly, looking around for the guilty party, who had conveniently fled the scene by now. "You just lay there for a couple of minutes, we thought you were evolving or something, but none of us expected… this"

"What I don't understand is how this could have happened" Brock mused from behind them, "I've never read about anything like this happening before, it doesn't even seem physically possible"

"It's possible, all right" Chikorita let out a faint, sheepish smile, "When a Pokémon recognises their trainer in severe danger, they can use this special kind of ability to protect them. The only problem is... well, it's a one way process. Now that I've done this, it's impossible to go back to how I was"

"Well, thank you, Chikorita, you have no idea how grateful I am" Ash looked solemn, deep in emotional conflict. He was indebted to his Pokémon who had undoubtedly just saved his life, but at the same time he was wrestling with the fact that one of his best Pokémon had been taken away from him.

"What's wrong, Ash?" Oliver and Pikachu walked over and joined them.

"It's just… if this is a one way process, then that means that I'll never be able to battle with Chikorita again" Ash began. "How on earth can you even think like that?!" Misty exploded and stormed over to Ash, "If you were any kind of trainer you'd want to look after your friends and Pokémon whatever happened, not think about some stupid future gym battle!"

"Misty's right" concurred Oliver, "When news of this gets out, and believe me it will, everyone is going to want a piece of this. Scientists, journalists, they're all going to want to know, so you need to protect her now before anything can happen"

"I guess, things are just a bit weird right now" Ash shook his head and straightened up, "First though, let's get to the Pokémon Centre, get our heads around everything" Ash offered his hand to Chikorita who stood, and after having slipped into some of Misty's spare clothes, they all headed towards Olivine City and its Pokémon Centre, still not quite sure about what to do.

"So it really is possible then, I can't quite believe it myself…" the Professor muttered to himself quietly. "There was always this rumour, some urban legend, that said that when Trainers were in extreme danger their Pokémon would make this so called ultimate sacrifice, and now it seems your Chikorita has done just that. How is she doing?"

"…she's fine, I think. She's sleeping right now, but I just don't know what to do" Ash sounded concerned and desperate at the same time, almost pleading with the Professor for some answers. "Well there isn't much you can do, apart from make the best of the situation. All I can suggest is treat her the same way as you do with your other friends. It's possible that Chikorita's traits as a Pokémon will have remained, so try and treat her in the same way as you used to, and I'm sure everything will be fine.

"Thanks, Professor Oak, I knew you'd be a help"

"My pleasure Ash, and without wishing to sound selfish, if you could head back to Pallet Town soon I'd like to meet her, see how this change affects people" this final request hit Ash with a pang of panic, remembering Oliver's warning clearly before he had left them and carried on towards Olivine and then CIanwood City. Ash reluctantly agreed with the Professor and hung up, turning and letting out a loud sigh.

Ash returned to their borrowed room to find the two female members of his group sitting and chatting away. They noticed him as he entered, and Misty smiled.

"Oh, there you are, Ash. Chiko and I were just talking about you" They both turned to each other and giggled.

"Great" Ash muttered as he stooped to search through his rucksack, eventually returning with Chikorita's pokéball. "We'll be moving on soon, doesn't look like we'll be needing this though" he tossed the pokéball towards Chiko, "What do you mean?" She asked nervously.

"Professor Oak wants to see you, so we'll go back to Pallet Town first" Ash turned away and said quietly, "My gym battle can wait"

"Ash, wait, I didn't mean to intrude on your plans like this. If the Professor wants to see me we can go after your battle" Chiko stood up and walked towards Ash, but he moved away.

"No we'll go now" enthusiasm had left Ash's voice a long time ago, "I'll need to catch a new Pokémon anyway, might as well do that on the way back" he began to head towards the door

"Ash, please, I'm sorry, I-" Chiko started before the door slammed loudly and abruptly, "-love you" Misty merely stared at the door, emotions running at a mile a minute. She was finding it ever more diffiuclt to deny her own feelings for Ash, but now that it looked like she had a rival for his heart, she wasn't sure what to think or do. As ever, she did nothing, and comforted Chiko.

Ash ran, he had to. He couldn't do this, he knew he couldn't. Loosing Chikorita as a battle partner was hard enough, but now he was having to change everything in order to accommodate for her. But it was more than that. She was… well, amazing. Only recently had he began to think about Misty more, and his feelings for her were far from certain, but as soon as he'd seen Chiko he had felt different. Maybe it was just the trainer and Pokémon bond rearing its head, or maybe it was something else. He didn't know, and right now he didn't want to know, he couldn't take it, he would think about it another day.


	3. Change of Pace

Three – Change of Pace

When he couldn't see the Pokémon Centre anymore, he stopped running. Ash gave a small glance behind him; nobody had followed. He'd never had such a complication to deal with before, what was he going to do? Sure, Chikorita wouldn't have been a huge benefit in the Olivine City gym anyway, he'd always planned on using Totodile for that, but still, she'd been training well and was pretty much ready to evolve. Not like this though, how had this happened?

He sat on a tree stump and sighed. He had no option but to return to Pallet Town now, but it seemed like such a pointless journey. He'd lost out, and now he was going to keep on losing. The Professor would want to keep Chiko behind to "examine" her and try and piece together what had gone on, so he would lose her altogether. What should he do about replacing her? He still had Bulbasaur, so Grass types were covered, but she needed to be replaced somehow. He could recall one of his others from Professor Oak, but then the thought of which became much too complex to consider at this point.

A rustle of leaves came from behind him and he froze, as a figure came and stood beside him.

"For a kid so young, you can sure run quickly" Brock quipped as he put his bag at his feet and lay a hand on Ash's shoulder. "Bit too much to take in, huh?"

"A bit, I'm just not sure what to do, every option makes it look like I'll lose out somehow" Ash sighed again, seemingly struggling with his words.

"Well, we'll head back to Pallet and take it from there. It's all we can do, really. The Professor is the best person to advise us—"

"But he doesn't know anything about this himself, he even said that! He only wants me to go back so he can take Chiko away and run millions of tests!" Ash flung up from the stump and glared at Brock.

"Ah, so you're using her nickname now too, huh?" Brock smiled slightly as he caught Ash completely off guard. "You may very well be right, but the three- sorry four, of us aren't going to be able to get very far until we get some answers. And hey, who knows, you might even catch a new Pokémon on the way back."

"That's true, but I don't know what, I can't think what would work, especially if I have a Steel type Gym coming up, well, whenever I get back to here" Ash cupped his face, deep in thought again, subconsciously changing the subject.

"I'll leave you to think on that then, I'd best get us all packed up. It's getting dark, so come back soon, ok?" Brock picked his bag up again and walked back into the forest, leaving the trainer stood alone against the setting sun. He stared at the ground for a moment, muttered something inaudible under his breath and sat against the tree stump, closing his eyes.

It was nearly dark by the time Ash woke, and voices could be heard in the distance. He sat bolt upright; he knew those voices, and he didn't want to have anything to do with them right now. He got up and hid behind a low hedge as the three members of Team Rocket sauntered into view.

"What are we going to do? Having that girl would be huge!" Jessie could barely contain her excitement at the prospect of getting her Boss' approval.

"But what's the point, Jess? What exactly would the boss do with her? It's not like she can battle anymore or work for him" James pointed out, stuffing the last of a rice ball into his mouth.

"True, but a Pokémon that became a human? That is rare, no, that is unique, which is enough for the boss!"

"Imagine his face when we present her to him" Meowth chimed in wistfully, "imagine the rewards, imagine the paycheques, imagine those gold plated cars…" the Pokémon was fantasising so much that it walked straight into the tree stump.

"But what about Pikachu? I always thought that was the prize?" James inquired.

"Who cares about some stupid little rat, the girl is the priority now, and I have just the idea" Jessie nodded confidently as she sat on the stump.

Ash ran, and he ran hard. Having heard what Team Rocket had in store he knew they needed to get out, regardless of what he was feeling. It didn't even matter where they went, as long as they were not in that Pokémon Centre tonight. He raced through the automatic doors as they purred open, charging past an oncoming Nurse Joy. She didn't even have time to bid him goodnight before he had sped round the corner and into their room.

"We need to go. Now" He said quickly, picking his bag up and clipping his Pokéballs to his belt.

"We can't go now, Ash, it's way too dark outside" Misty sat up and pointed towards the window. Chiko half-nodded in agreement, "What's the rush, Ash?"

"Team Rocket are coming for you tonight, I heard them talking in the forest. We can't stay here otherwise they'll take you, and today has been difficult enough as it is"

"They're what?" Misty said calmly, a hint of humour in her voice, "Ash, they've tried approximately 181 times to steal Pikachu, what makes you think they'll try and succeed to steal a non-Pokémon?"

"They aren't doing that, they're going to get Chiko arrested, which they can actually do" Ash said breathlessly as he stuffed his spare jacket into his bag, before turning back to face them. "Remember how we got stopped before because we'd left our papers at the Pokémon Centre? What will happen to someone who doesn't have any at all?"

The colour quickly drained from Misty's face as she sat bolt upright, "We need to go. Get Brock and we'll meet in the lobby in two minutes"

As Ash ran from the room with Pikachu in tow, Misty turned to Chiko. "We're going to need to get you to Pallet Town as quickly as we can and hope that we don't meet any police on the way" Chiko nodded nervously as she clumsily put on the coat and pair of shoes that Nurse Joy had lent her. The girls raced from the room towards the lobby to be met by Ash and Brock as they all ran into the blackness together.

"Don't look back, guys. Just run, we'll find somewhere to camp" Brock ordered emotionlessly as they deviated from the road into the forest. Ash afforded himself a glance at Chiko, "You'll be safe, I promise" he caught a glint of a tear in her emerald eye before the sound of voice and sirens wailed into the night behind them.


	4. Change of Emotion

Four – Change of Emotion

The sirens had stopped, and the voices had died down. High up in a tree Ash and Chiko huddled for warmth and support. Misty and Brock perched on the branch below; as the group watched the police cars drive away from the Pokémon Centre and away into the night. Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief as they gingerly climbed back down and sat on the ground.

"So, what do we do now?" Misty asked, concerned.

"There isn't much we can do apart from remain as scarce as possible. Pallet Town is too far right now, and we can't use the boat as a shortcut. Our best bet may be New Bark Town; at least Professor Elm would give us some help" Brock mused, pacing up and down. "In the meantime though we need to move fast, so that we can't be caught"

"I-I'm so sorry guys, I had no idea any of this would happen" Chiko whispered quietly as she sat next to Ash, leaning on his shoulder. He glanced down at her with a pained and reluctant expression, before sighing and standing. "We need some sleep, so we'll camp back up in that tree. If we keep to the busy roads tomorrow we're less likely to be caught, and there aren't any checkpoints between here and Goldenrod City at least, so we can get that far on our own" Ash picked up his pack solemnly and climbed up into the tree, with Pikachu bouncing up after him. The remaining team members just looked at each other, before Brock clambered up to Ash, seemingly keen to talk.

"This has hit you hard, hasn't it?" Brock said to Ash, calmly.

"I don't know what to do, Brock, we have to protect her at all costs, and I can't let anyone hurt her, I… I…" he trailed off, not knowing or wanting to complete his sentence.

"You… what?" Brock pressed, almost willing Ash to confirm his suspicions.

"I… really like her Brock. I know it seems weird because she was a Pokémon and all that, but I never realised just how much I meant to her, or she meant to me" Ash sounded very nervous as he confessed, while inside Brock was celebrating that he'd read the situation correctly.

"Look, this isn't the time to be worrying about that. She likes you and yo like her, you can celebrate till kingdom come when all of this is cleared up, but for now we need to get some rest, and get moving in the morning" Brock stated as he unrolled his sleeping bag and hammock, setting up for sleep.

Meanwhile, down on the ground the two girls were unpacking their things, ready to make up a camp of their own in the next tree. Neither was aware of Ash's admission, but that didn't stop Chiko from wanting to talk about him. "That's the first time I've ever seen him display any kind of emotion like that, I mean that was incredible. I didn't realise he was so caring and loyal and—"

"Chiko, please, let's not talk about it, we just need to focus on resting now, we're all too emotionally wired to be thinking straight" Misty snapped at her new companion a bit more than she intended, bordering on spiteful and jealous.

"M-Misty, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to annoy you, did I?"

"No! No, I'm just tired, and I don't have the energy to be thinking of Ash right now" Misty tried not to sound angry but she was struggling. She'd spent all this time trying to win Ash's affection just for Chiko to turn up and succeed in the space of just a few days. Worse still, Ash looked like he was reciprocating, and she didn't like that, at all.

"Ok… where shall I sleep?" Chiko asked nervously, looking around for something she could use to sleep on.

"How about just getting back into your Pokéball and leaving him alone?" Misty muttered under her breath, regretting her words as soon as she heard the gasp from behind her.

Chiko didn't say anything; she just ran. Sobbing, she ran back into the forest and into the night. Misty stood there, stunned. She hadn't intended for that to happen; she hadn't even intended to say anything, but she lost control of her emotions for a split second. She shouted desperately in the direction that her companion had run, but there was no response. A dull thud from behind her signalled Ash's entrance into the clearing.

"Misty, what's wrong?" he asked concernedly, hurrying to her side. This time it was Misty's turn to break down, explaining in between sniffs what she had said. Ash turned away:

"How could you say that?" he faced her, eyes burning, "this isn't her fault, she didn't intend for any of this to happen, how dare you blame her?" Misty just stood there, head hanging, not saying a word. Ash sighed, turned away again and followed after Chiko in search of her. And while all this happened, Brock sat in the tree, watching his friendship group collapse before his very eyes.


End file.
